...in a matter of days, House Bill 4002, will be signed into law here in Oregon. The bill resulted from 18 months of conferences, study and research with over 500 participants. National experts from the University of Chicago and Washington State University provided important input to the process. This bill represents action-oriented legislation on absenteeism — community-driven, evidence-based and forward thinking.
...HB4002 sets an action-based approach in motion. It asks school districts or education service districts and their partners to do six things:
• Put together a plan of action, using national models tailored to the specific needs of the community to coordinate existing resources (school health centers, nurses, counselors, administrators) with the efforts of coordinated-care organizations, public health, nonprofits, the justice system, businesses, parents and others.
• Use this to create a three-year pilot project to develop a trauma-informed approach to education, health services and intervention strategies in high-need communities.
• Identify a trauma-care specialist to coordinate both the in-school work/integration and the work of bringing outside community resources and programs into the collaborative effort. Involving teachers in this process is absolutely critical, as they are often the main contact point for children facing high adverse childhood experience scores.
To continue reading this op-ed by Doug Riggs, coordinator of Alliance4Kids, go to: http://www.oregonlive.com/opin...is_doing_plenty.html
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